The present invention generally relates to systems and processes for performing liquid treatments, as examples, liquid purification and recovery to permit reclaiming, recycling, and reuse of a liquid. The invention particularly relates to systems and processes capable of reclaiming water from contaminated water or other feedstocks, including but not limited to wastewater, industrial water, groundwater, flood and surface water, seawater, brackish water, and agriculture water.
There are many technologies that exist to purify and treat contaminated water for reintroduction into rivers, lakes, irrigation, mechanical equipment, or a municipal water system for human consumption. For example, it is advantageous to recover water from various sources, for example wastewater, industrial water, groundwater, flood and surface waters, seawater, brackish water, and agriculture water, especially in regions of the world where fresh water is not regularly available or is unavailable due to a catastrophic event, such as a hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, etc. Such locations include desert regions, near sea coasts, or remote locations that do not have significant or sufficient surface water or access to surface water, locations where groundwater must be transported by truck, and locations where investment in deep well construction may not be possible or practical due to physical site limitations such as mountains, slopes, or unstable soil conditions. Various treatment technologies have benefits and shortcomings, depending on the raw water quality, location, energy cost, capital cost, end use of the recovered water, and the ease of operation.
Existing and conventional liquid purification and treatment methods require a large amount of energy, high pressure, and/or large equipment footprints and site infrastructure. Consequently, such methods are expensive to build, operate, and maintain. Moreover, the equipment required used to perform existing and conventional purification and treatment methods do not provide versatility regarding the degree to which a particular liquid can be purified.
In view of the above, there exists a need for processes and systems that are capable of purifying or otherwise treating liquids, including but not limited to contaminated water, for the purpose of reclaiming, recycling, and reuse thereof. It would be particularly desirable if such processes and systems offered versatility regarding the extent to which liquids can be purified so as to enable the process to be tailored and controlled in terms of the type of liquid being processed, the extent of its contamination, and the desired purity of the resulting liquid for a particular end use or destination, as well as versatility as to the locations and environments in which such systems can be used.